MARTA selects Parker as new GM and CEO

The MARTA Board of Directors selected Keith T. Parker as MARTA's next general manager and chief executive officer on Oct. 4.

Parker has served as VIA's President/CEO since July 2009. He oversees all aspects of the San Antonio region's primary transit system, which provides bus, streetcar and paratransit service daily for nearly 150,000 riders. Prior to San Antonio, Parker served as CEO for the Charlotte Area Transit System, or CATS. Parker joined CATS in 2000 as chief operating officer where he was responsible for bus and paratransit operations and helped develop light-rail plans for the transit system. Prior to his experience in North Carolina, Parker was the CEO for the Clark County Transit Authority in Vancouver, Wash., and deputy director of the transit agency in Richmond, Va.

Parker was selected after a nationwide search conducted by the executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles. Parker was one of two finalists considered by the Board who had the requisite background, expertise and leadership skills to run MARTA, the nation's ninth largest transit system. Dr. Beverly A. Scott, who has been MARTA's GM/CEO since 2007, informed the board last year that she would not seek to renew her five-year contract.